Tag: tabor academy

Dimitry Coronel 6’5” athletic, defensive stopper, and a streaky shooter when he gets his feet set, that’s what coach Tom Woodward of the University of Maine will be getting in Coronel.

Coronel a Cape Verdan decent has made his family proud and achieved his dream of playing division one basketball. But the path wasn’t easy in fact Dimitry was the focal point behind a Boston Globe article about Prep schools coming into the inner city and taking the student athletes. This came after Dimitry came upon an inner city coach who introduced him to Tabor Academy, Coronel was accepted and enrolled all within two weeks. Coronel then a student of East Boston High School had the city divided about if Coronel made the right decision.

Coronel took the negative press and turned it into to a positive, he joined the Expressions Elite AAU Program for personal reasons he decided to play with the New England Playaz for a portion of the summer. Things didn’t go well there so Dimity went back to his roots in Metro Boston where it all started, Coronel took the end of the live period by storm and tore up the Basketbull tournament in July and never looked back as he continued to shine in Orlando.

This weekend Dimitry took an official visit to Maine University, and fell in love with the campus. Monday Coronel gave coach Tim Woodward a commitment to attend the University. We sat down with Demitry to talk about his commitment.

Why did you choose Maine?

“I chose to attend Maine because I felt that it’s was the right place to be if I wanted to continue my basketball career which I do and have a successful 4 years. Also the Coaching staff and players made feel comfortable on my visit and gave me some great advice on deciding where I want to go to college whether it was Maine or not.”

“Tabor helped me be more humble on and off the court. Tabor helped me realize what kind of person and basketball player I really am which is unselfish and caring.”

There was some controversy about you coming from public school to prep school, how did you handle that?

“I paid it no mind because I knew that it was going to be a great opportunity for me to prepare for college. So I took the opportunity no hesitation and as you can see it turned out to work out just fine.”

How did AAU Change your life?

“AAU changed my life because that’s when I started taking basketball seriously and it helped me showcase my basketball skills to earn a D1 scholarship and give me a chance to get me where I want to be in life.”

“I tried patterning my game after Allen Iverson until I grow to be 6’5″ and now it’s a little bit of A.I and Tracy McGrady”

Who are your biggest supporter?

“My family, don’t know who I would be or where I would be without them (Family First) and my friends and coaches.”

Describe your AAU coach in one word?

“A Rider!!!”

Describe your East Boston High School coach and your Tabor coach in one word?

“Eastie coach: Fearless, Tabor coach: Understanding.”

What are you going to miss the most about AAU?

“Hanging out with my Metro Boston Teammates and traveling all over the country and Oscar’s (a.k.a Odizz) and Courtney’s jokes.”

How was it playing for Metro Boston?

“It was the best thing that ever happened to me because i learned a lot on the court and off the court from all my coaches”

You went from Metro Boston, to Expressions, to the Playaz, then back to Metro Boston, explain why you went back?

“I went back because Metro Boston is a family and everybody cares about one another and it felt like the right thing to do because I know in 10 or 20 years I can depend on every player I played with and every coach on the team to help me out in need.”

Who would you like to Thank?

“Everybody who believed in me and helped me get a Division 1 scholarship.”